Hyundai Customer Racing Results in June 2019 | Hyundai N

11 June 2019 - Both i30 N TCR and i20 R5 passed milestones with recent results, while the Hyundai Portugal supported i20 R5 squad secured their first 1-2 finish in the national championship.

50th overall i30 N TCR win as car’s TCR Asia dominance continues

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver Luca Engstler claimed the 50th overall victory for the i30 N TCR. The German powered forward from sixth position on the partially reversed grid for Race 2 of the TCR Asia weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit (May 31-June 2), to claim the milestone win in his Liqui Moly Team Engstler run car. He finished ahead of Solite Indigo Racing driver Pepe Oriola to complete an i30 N TCR 1-2, with Diego Moran and Eurasia Motorsport’s Daniel Miranda making up four Hyundai in the top five.

Following the weekend, which started the second half of the season, Engstler leads the championship with Moran, Oriola and Miranda completing the i30 N TCR dominance at the top of the points’ standings.

TCR Europe podium delight in Germany and Belgium races

i30 N TCR customers took a starring role at Round 2 of TCR Europe at the Hockenheimring (May 24-26). Target Competition driver Josh Files took pole position and then put in a perfect race to start the weekend – leading from lights to flag taking the victory, and setting fastest lap. He was chased home by M1RA Motorsport Luca Engstler to secure a fine Hyundai 1-2. In Race 2 Jessica Bäckman, another driver supported by the Junior Driver initiative, scored her maiden podium in the series, becoming the first female driver to do so in the championship. She finished third, with brother Andreas, Engstler, and Files also scoring points for top ten finishes.

At the following round, held at Spa-Francorchamps (June-7-9), it was Andreas Bäckman’s turn to take the first podium in the series. He finished third in Race 2 of the weekend, behind his Target Competition teammate Maťo Homola to secure another double podium for i30 N TCR customers. Slovakian Homola was also the best of the Hyundai customers at the track in Race 1, as he finished seventh. The event gathered together 11 i30 N TCR – the most in a single race to date – with TCR UK regular Lewis Kent joining as a one-off entrant.

i30 N TCR makes successful TCR Scandinavia debut

Jessica Bäckman gave the i30 N TCR its debut in TCR Scandinavia at the Scandinavian Raceway, in Anderstorp (June 1-2). Continuing her racing with Target Competition and following her maiden TCR Europe podium, she returned to the series where she raced last year. An extra year’s experience, coupled with the well-balanced performance of the Hyundai package, allowed the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver to take a career-best qualifying result in the series, before closing out the weekend successfully with a first podium finish in the championship.

Australian i30 N TCR customers score maiden 1-2 finish

HMO Customer Racing scored their first 1-2 finish in Race 3 of the TCR Australia weekend at Phillip Island (June 7-9). Taking the chequered flag, Will Brown secured his third win of the season to regain the championship lead, while teammate Nathan Morcom took his first podium finish of the year.

The triumph completed another strong weekend for the team. Brown finished second in both of the first two races of the weekend. Morcom, meanwhile, was unlucky to be caught up in an incident on the opening lap of Race 1. However, he recovered excellently to finish fourth in the following encounter to put him in position to complete the 1-2 to round out the visit to the track.

Strong home weekend gives Proczyk first i30 N TCR win

A lightning start put Hari Proczyk in position for a first i30 N TCR win in TCR Germany at Red Bull Ring (June 7-9). At his home races of the championship the Austrian leapt into the lead and then withstood pressure following a Safety Car period to pick up his first victory of the season. The HP Racing International driver was again the best of the Hyundai drivers in Race 2, charging from eighth on the reverse grid to finish second.

The excellent weekend propelled him up to second in the championship standings, leapfrogging Hyundai Team Engstler driver Max Hesse, who finished the two races 11th and fifth and now lies fourth in the points.

Calabogie weekend gives Canadian team first i30 N TCR podiums

The second meeting of the 2019 Canadian Touring Car Championship season brought a double podium for Hyundai Racing Canada driver Bob Attrell. A familiar name in the championship, which is now dominated by TCR cars, Attrell secured his first podium – third overall and second within the TCR category – with his i30 N TCR despite starting at the back of the field following problems in qualifying.

He duplicated the result – albeit from a better starting spot – in Race 2 at the Calabogie Motorsports Park (June 1-2) to properly announce the Hyundai’s arrival in the country.

Victory on TCR debut weekend for Copeland Motorsports

Driver Mason Filippi helped new Veloster N TCR customers Copeland Motorsports take a race win on their debut with the car in TC America at Sonoma Raceway (June 7-9). Filippi took the car to pole position before finishing fifth in the first race of the weekend after dropping back after a mistake negotiating slower cars.

Starting from pole again at Race 2, Filippi completed a perfect race to give the team the win their performance deserved. Despite two periods behind the Safety Car, he was never challenged for the lead and took the Veloster N TCR’s third win of the year in the US sprint race series.

First 1-2 result for Team Hyundai Portugal on national stages

The Team Hyundai Portugal squad scored their first 1-2 finish in the national championship, taking the top two spots in the domestic event at Rally Portugal (May 30–June 2). Defending series champion Armindo Araújo dominated the weekend. He won seven of the ten stages and led throughout to claim his first victory of the season. Teammate Bruno Magalhães added two top times of his own, and took his second podium of the national campaign.

The Portuguese crews were also part of the fight for the top ten among the WRC2 runners on the rally. Araújo finished the best placed of the i20 R5 drivers in the category in eighth place, with Simone Tempestini tenth in his Friulmotor prepared entry ahead of Magalhães in the final standings.

Dominant victory for Tempestini in Romanian championship latest

Simone Tempestini dominated the Raliul Aradului (May 24-25) in his Friulmotor-run i20 R5. The Romanian, and co-driver Sergiu Itu, won every one of the nine stages on the event, the second round of the national championship where the pair is running the full season. The performance gave them victory by nearly four minutes and maintained their perfect start to the year in the series.

Delta Rally victory extends Rok Turk’s lead in Slovenia

Overall victory at the INA Delta Rally (June 7-8) helped Rok Turk protect his lead at the top of the Slovenian national championship. Driving with Blanka Kacin the Hyundai Slovenia supported man started the rally with the best time on the opener, and emerged on top from a battle for the lead which lasted most of the event.

The win added further to the successful weeks of the pair, following on their third position overall at Rally Velenje (May 24-25), where again they were involved in the lead battle until losing time to a slow puncture on the penultimate stage.

Second place in Brazil keeps i20 R5 crew top in South America

Diego Dominguez extended his advantage at the top of the South American CODASUR Rally Championship after the third round of the season, Rally de Erechim (May 30-June 2) in Brazil. The Hyundai Paraguay supported driver won five stages on his way to second overall. With the result he continued his run of podium finishes in the series and grew his lead in the standings to start the second half of the campaign.

Pernía equals career best result at Rallye de Ourense

Surhayen Pernía finished a career best-equaling second overall in the Spanish tarmac championship, taking second position in his i20 R5 at the Rallye de Ourense (June 7-8). The result was the deserved reward for a strong weekend, for he and co-driver Alba Sánchez González were never out of the top five times across the two-day event.

Iván Ares, who began the weekend leading the championship, was fighting for the lead until the final loop of stages, where he was forced into retirement.

Second i20 R5 win of the season in Madeira championship

Miguel Nunes was involved in a terrific battle for the win at the Rali da Ribeira Brava, the latest round of the Madeira rally championship. The result was decided when Nunes won each of the last three stages, overturning a two-second deficit to take the victory of the season by five seconds. The result, his second win of the year, allowed him to close in on the points’ lead to start the second half of the season.

Double Dutch success for i20 R5 teams

There was a double celebration for i20 R5 customers at the ELE Rally (May 24-25) in Holland. In the main event of the weekend, the crew of Bob de Jong and Bjorn Degandt finished second overall. The duo started in excellent form, recording the fastest time on the first three tests. However, a mistake by the crew led to them dropping back into second at the end of the first day, despite adding another fastest time to their tally.

Their challenge for the lead continued into the final day. However, by hitting a loose tree stump on the penultimate stage they lost time and had to settle for second position, though they completed the weekend with the best time on the Power Stage, and got extra points for doing so. The result kept them at the top of the national series standings.

The i20 R5 took overall victory in the accompanying Short Rally one-day event. Making their first start in the car Antoine Beisheuvel and Saskia Bleijenberg won five of the six stages for a dominant victory.